Revised story

Because I am never quite clear--the new revised story is very similiar to the one planned out, minus the cat and the bell. Instead, the flower itself is this little creature which begins to eat a nearby flower, to show that he is garden eater pretty much. Mary in the end picks him up with a little half smile, showing she is more amused then scared by this little creature.

HOWEVER

Shadows begin to fall across Mary, as do other red flowers...her expression turns quickly to fear as she looks in the air to see hundreds and hundreds of these little buggers heading her way....oh the poor gal.

I am pretty sure this can fit all into 30 seconds--its just figuring out what sequence of cuts will work best to convey the story, as well as how to position that final moment of a swarm of red flowers heading her way. A silhouette shot of her and the flowers? A point of view shot? I figure I will have to try out both to figure out which one will work best to the dramatic and visually appealing factor.

"Mistress Mary best be wary

of how her garden fairs

with sticks on bells and plaster shells

and mad things in the air..."

Turn Tables Galore!

I am revising my storyboard...it will be posted soon! I think I might need to get rid of my cat to make it work *tear*, but its for the best.

Story Board!

Story board: Mary Mary....

I had a lot of fun trying to work out the details of this--now the trick is fitting it in 30 seconds...

First Impressions

Story thus far...

The story begins with a long shot of a garden, where a girl is sleeping on a throne like structure at the end of a long path. A flower (in a bright red or yellow--some color and shape differing it from the flowers in the actual garden) floats pass the camera, and we follow it to where it rests on the path.

There is a pause, just long enough to build a little tension, when suddenly a silver bell located above Mary's thrown begins to ring. Mary leaps to her feet in surprise, brandishing the watering can she was holding like a weapon and looking left to right. The cat on the other hand lazily stretches to his feet and rubs against her ankes.

The bells are still ringing and she looks from them with her hands over her ears in disgust (close up shot), and the camera zooms out to the flower on the path.

Close up of her rolling her eyes, then a mid lower shot of her jumping of the pedistal as the cat watches, flicking his tail.

She picks up the object and here, depending on my time constraints...either sticks it in her pocket/throws it over the fence/ or walkes it over to a hole in the wall labeled "Incinerator" which glows red from below when she drops it in.

Again, based on my time, I'd like to have the camera slowly zoom out, showing more flowers flying forward, and the bells begin to ring right as the credits appear.



The Characters:

Sam (short for Samantha) isn't too particularly fond of her job in watching over the garden, but the position was open and the only requirement was to either be named, or be willing to be called, Mary.

The cat (haven't thought of a name yet) is another guardian of the garden, and his job is to keep any small creatures with the munchies for vegetation away.

Mary Mary

I decided to do Mary Mary Quite Contrary as my nursery rhyme.

The last line has many different versions, but I've decided to retain its most common itteration :D This way I can have my character be not the actually "Mary" in the verse, but instead have Mary be this all power being that is over looking her garden from above, and have one of the "maidens" in charge of caring for the garden.....

Mary mary quite contrary

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells

And little maidens all in a row

I liked this image of Mary that I found--I see it as a little loney, or aloof. I also like this idea of a path cutting through the center of the garden that Mary walks to and from.

from: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/
mary_mary_quite_contrary.htm

I also like the idea of stylizing the characters in some way--right now the idea is of angular joints and round faces, and doing something similiar with the plants.

by: Gris Grimly